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Maker’s Mark® Ambassador app

Released May 8th, 2013

Screenshot of Maker's Mark iOS application

For quite some time, the Maker’s Mark® Ambassador program has been a great way for fans of the Kentucky-made Bourbon Whiskey to keep up with the brand and get member-only content and features. Direct mail and the web have been the primary ways to connect with Ambassadors around the world – until now, that is.

The free Maker’s Mark Ambassador app lets you track your very own barrel as it matures and see your personalized barrel plate, collect and view Passport Stamps, get updates from the distillery, expand your knowledge of your favorite bourbon and get the inside scoop on all things Maker’s Mark.

Mission Data implemented the visual design created by Doe Anderson for both the native iOS application and Android. So now, Maker’s Mark Ambassadors can easily find their favorite bourbon wherever they are.

If you want to become a Maker’s Mark Ambassador, visit http://makersmark.com, or download the Ambassador App from iTunes or Google Play and register within the app itself.

Real time Metro Bus predictions with Bus Stop DC

Released February 11th, 2013

Mission Data’s mobile application developers are tenacious problem solvers. So, when the mobile app he used for commuting by bus went down, Scott Yoder went to work to create a new one. On Friday, Mission Data released Bus Stop DC, a simple, free iPhone application that provides real-time bus predictions for DC metro buses sourced directly from the WMATA data feed.

Yoder created the app with speed and simplicity in mind. He also included bookmarking of his favorite stops, a feature he couldn’t find in other bus schedule mobile apps.

“My use case is this: I’m heading home from downtown and I know I have a ten-minute metro ride. I want to see which buses will be leaving from the metro station that I’m headed to, so that I know whether I should take a bus or walk home,” Yoder said. “The bus stop that I want predictions for is not one of the nearby stops. With bookmarking, I can quickly see arrival predictions at my stop.”

Bus Stop DC will find the closest bus stops to you, and allows you to see arrivals and connections at each stop. The app provides arrival predictions by the minute, and real-time schedule updates. Bus Stop DC also offers a feature for bookmarking your frequently used stops. The app requires network access and location services to be enabled.

Available now in the Apple App Store.

Top Chef University App hits 100k downloads

Released January 10th, 2013

January 10, 2013 marks an important milestone for the Top Chef University App. 100,000 downloads. We think that’s pretty impressive, but mostly we’re just glad there are so many foodies out there who love to cook. Enjoy the app!

Figment Wins at the LGDA 100 Show and Other Thoughts

Released December 27th, 2012

If you’re in Louisville, there’s a little competition here (well, there are many, but bear with me here). You might’ve heard of it. Year-in and year-out, students, professional designers, agencies, and in-house teams work even later into the night/morning to reflect upon a year’s worth of their work and decide upon the sharpest, finest examples – a daunting task, to be sure. And, with judges pouring over every detail of every submission, 100 are chosen to stand tallest among them all in: the LGDA 100 Show.

Pretty epic, right? After taking an extremely busy year away from the show, we jumped back into this year’s arena with a slew of work spreading across a variety of uses and devices. After a lot of stiff (but friendly) competition, when the dust was settled, I’m proud to say that we walked away with a Bronze award for our work on Figment.com!

For the uninformed, Figment is a thriving teen writing community focused mainly on Young Adult fiction. Users can write and publish their own stories, follow other authors, join in community discussions through forums and writing groups as well as enter writing contests. But, just because that community is thriving, don’t think for a second that it means we and the Figment team are simply kicking back and watching the good times roll by. Figment.com is under the constant microscope of improvement, with every interaction and piece of user feedback considered in order to make the Figment experience as engaging and intuitive as possible. In a time when the phrase “social web community” has steadily watched its very meaning diluted to the point of negligence, Figment stands out as a true “community” in every sense of the word and I’m glad to see some of the partnership-defining efforts, thought, and dedication of our team recognized locally among the “best of the best”.

This year’s awards presentation event took place in one of the many restoration projects at the heart of NuLu: The Marcus Lindsey. Throughout the evening, while catching up with other local designers, surveying the winning selections, and collecting our accolades, a number of design-related topics sprung forth as you can imagine, and the web was no simple dwarf among giants. And, when it comes to our scene here, I walked away with a few points worth sharing, I believe.

1) The boulder (some might argue it’s a mountain) that more than occasionally manifests along the path between the print and web design lands is slowly eroding…sort of. With a rising number of web shops and agencies, there seems to be a genuine rise of interest from print designers in Louisville to understand the process and the fine details of what it takes to create a solid interactive/web experience. And that’s fantastic! What we do is communicate and help our clients, partners, and their users communicate – across the board. A greater understanding of the logic, nuances, and trends in the methods of delivery can only help strengthen the success of that communication.

2) So, again…sort of. There’s still a need for quite a bit of education. How does that Robert Frost poem go…?

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep”

A few conversations pointed to a lack of clarity in the minds of many non-web folk regarding the difference certain roles in this field encompass (such as “designer” and “front-end developer”) and how we work with one another. This is completely understandable, as oftentimes the lines between such roles are blurry and furthermore, one person can exist in both roles and yet title themselves singularly as one or the other. There’s also some difficulty in understanding or relating to what makes a great web/interactive experience, even though some of that knowledge is already within each person. The good news? This is something that can be approached and coached with some good old-fashioned reaching across the aisle. Those of us in the field can help by being more engaged in activities that we feel are usually “non-web” design events/organizations (which is more often than not a misconception). And, non-web people? Come hang out with us. The web community in the city of Louisville is great. We’re friendly people, most of us like beer and/or bourbon, and a portion of us have a fair amount of print/non-web knowledge or backgrounds. So, if you have an interest in learning more or even getting started with the web, reach out to us (cough cough Build Guild cough cough…ahem…) – we’re always glad to talk. And, we’ll promise to do the same.

3) When it comes to submitting web-based interactive work for award show critique: we need something besides the “old methods”. Web/interactive work isn’t created with the same resolutions that print work requires, and printing/mounting work that is meant to be viewed and interacted with in a myriad of environments – your desktop, smart-phones, and/or tablet devices – eliminates two-thirds of the experience for which it should be judged. And it creates a lot of waste, at the end of the competition. With the opportunities now available to us for collaborating on work across great distances, there has to be something we can do to bring things into a more modern time.

And, maybe the biggest thing that I took from it: the conversations are there to begin with. Every year the place that web-oriented user-experience design is taking in regards to this industry we think of as “design” doesn’t simply grow, it’s exploding at warp speeds. Understanding what makes a great web/interactive design, and its importance in our lives, will only continue to become ever more important when it comes to judging and entering this type of “all-encompassing” competition. We’re seeing it each and every day, whether we realize it or not. If you thought the 100 show winners were strong THIS year? Well, to finish out this unintended-Tolkien-like novel, I’m positive that “pretty epic” won’t scratch the surface of reactions for what we see in 2013.

 

Bragging a Bit About Top Chef University

Released December 18th, 2012

Google Play today is featuring the Top Chef University application in its “Today’s Surprise” section.  This latest recognition comes on the heels of being featured in Samsung’s Samsung Apps store and exceeding 50,000 downloads in total.  Although we’re very proud that the rich and interactive culinary training it provides has reached so many on both iOS and Android platforms, the recognition and adoption shows the evolution of mobile applications from gaming to personal productivity to supporting lifestyle desires and training.

We promise to not have too many of these “glory” posts on this blog but as we reflect on 2012 we figured this would be cool to share.

re:build 2012

Released November 15th, 2012

I had the pleasure of driving a minivan with 4 fine ladies and gents up to Indianapolis on October 12th for the 2nd annual re:build conference. This is the 2nd time I’ve attended and have to say I love this conference. You can’t beat the price for a jam-packed day of great speakers, great food and conversation. For instance, I got to hear Dave Shea talk about the CSS Zen Garden for almost an hour. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Now, for the takeaways (short & sweet edition):

  • Zach Holman taught me to worry more about building the damn thing than about the damn thing. Also, a happy, motivated team that feels valued will always build better products.
  • David Kadavy taught me to start with the user experience and work backwards to the technology. It can be done so worry first about solving the problem using very simple user personas and use cases. An audience member posed an interesting idea for using ultra-simple personas and use cases for clients or stakeholders and far more detailed ones for visual designers and developers.
  • Jason VanLue taught me that creativity is not a talent and to make sure you are solving real problems for real people. Interesting to consider that the screen we are designing for is the next major paradigm since the automobile that is redefining how we live.
  • Willo O’Brien taught me to manage energy, not time and to kick ass, build things and feel awesome every day.
  • Lunch time taught me that waiting 1 hour and 15 minutes for a black bean and polenta burger is totally worth it!
  • Patrick Filler taught me to use open source projects as a way to make people’s lives better and to get recognition for ourselves and our company. More importantly you don’t have to be an expert developer to contribute to open source projects. Designers: get involved!
  • David Sleight taught me that we should be building tools and products that bend to meet the end user, not the other way around. Also, if you’re perceived to be doing poorly, you’re doing poorly.
  • Jenn Lukas taught me to not “Stalone It™” (go Over The Top) but that subtle progressive enhancements on top of interactions can take your design to a whole new level. Also, kittehs. Also, we all want to punch Photoshop in the face.
  • Mark Otto taught me to say ‘no’ all the time. We don’t need to solve everything and users don’t always know what they need.
  • Dave Shea taught me (c/o Jeffery Zeldman) to not just tell them, but show them. This is how and why the CSS Zen Garden worked almost 10 years ago but additionally why we don’t need it today. Also, we’ve come a looooong way with this here internet in a decade.

Will definitely be back next year and I’d encourage you to check it out especially if you are in the area.

Apple loves Nat Geo’s Weird But True

Released October 29th, 2012

Phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts. Hot dogs can last more than 20 years in landfills. We continue to learn these and many more extraordinary facts as we collaborate with the National Geographic team developing the Weird But True universal iOS app.

The app is based on the popular feature in National Geographic Kids magazine and best-selling books franchise Weird But True. Earlier this year it won the Spring 2012 Parents’ Choice Award and is considered by Apple to be one of the best educational apps in iTunes. Weird But True also made it on the New York Times list of Apps to Keep Children Happy. This week Weird But True is the free “App of the Week” in iTunes.

Mission Data is excited and honored to continue our relationship with National Geographic to expand the Weird But True app. Look for more unpredictable and entertaining facts for kids of all ages in early 2013. In the meantime, download the number 1 “Top Free App” from the iTunes App Store.

You are compilating things!

Released October 10th, 2012

The worst thing that can probably happen when you’re using LESS or Sass as part of your workflow is to have someone make changes in your compiled .css file but not in your source .less or .sass file. If there are members of your team who are unaware that you are using LESS or Sass, or (worse) they are clueless as to what it is, you’ll need to consider how people learn about the styling process in place in order to ensure that you don’t lose valuable work. Additionally, you might also need to consider your legacy and those who come after you.

At Mission Data we @import an external CSS file into our main .less/.sass/.scss file at the very top which has the following as it’s content:

/*===========================================
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DO NOT MODIFY! EDIT ACCOMPANYING .LESS FILE
More information here: http://lesscss.org/
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===========================================*/

Using traditional CSS comments will render this in the compiled .css file and since it’s the first thing you import in your main file, it renders at the very top. This won’t get in the way of your authoring but hopefully alerts anyone who opens the .css file about what they might need to know.

Lab Testing: Now 100% Animal-Free!

Released June 25th, 2012
Screen capture of Gnarus Systems website

Screen capture of Gnarus Systems website

I’m just gonna put this subject out there: animal testing. There, I said it. Let the great debate machine gears turn, and the war of words begin. I’ll be on the side, avoiding the tossing of things.

We’ve all seen the cartoons that jokingly depict the “Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde” lab mouse or bird jockeying back and forth to wreak havoc on the scientists (or lab cats) who tormented them. The serious truth of the matter is that animal testing is (and has been) a subject of emotional debate for years, seeing animal rights activists, scientific research advocates, and members of the general public take their turn at the lectern to (sometimes rather heatedly) present their stances on the issue with nary a practical compromise being found. But, what if the issue, and thus the debate entirely, were rendered moot? Ladies and gentlemen, I think Gnarus Systems, Inc. would like to move to the podium.

Who Are They?

A Delaware C corporation organized in May 2009, Gnarus Systems, Inc. is a collaboration of scientists, mathematicians, and business developers located in Louisville, Kentucky.

What Do They Do?

Let’s face it: the various segments of the chemical industry (including pharmaceuticals, basic chemicals, specialty chemicals, agricultural chemicals and consumer products) HAVE to test their products somehow. This assessment is of utmost importance to regulatory agencies, which include organizations concerned with environmental safety such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as agencies regulating new drugs such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). In the Europe Union (EU) there is also an increased need for toxicity assessments owing to the REACH regulation (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals).

One of the major hurdles to this testing, however, is the high cost and lengthy time periods that are associated with the use of in vitro and animal testing methods to determine a chemical’s potential for toxicity. When you consider that the possible testing samples could number in the tens of thousands, the obvious result is that you end up with large inventories of existing chemicals that have little or no toxicological data available. Hence, this strategy becomes largely impractical.

An alternative approach is to use computational toxicology, defined by the U.S. National Library of Medicine as the “application of mathematical and computer models to predict adverse effects and to better understand the mechanism(s) through which a given chemical causes harm.”

In short, Gnarus has devised and automated a unique set of processes and methods that effectively predict the toxicity of existing and new chemical structures that will run from the safety and chemical protection suit-free environment of your computer.

The results? Lower testing costs. Faster analyses. Equivalent or superior toxicity prediction abilities. All with no live animal testing needed.

How Mission Data Helped

Gnarus came to Mission Data seeking a partner that could share the goal of making their custom-developed solution (referred to as cat-SAR, short for categorical-structure‐activity relationship) a commercially-viable services solution available to clients via a secure web portal.

Speaking to their business, Mission Data was able to develop a custom-branded solution that speaks to potentially interested users with a consumer-geared site loaded with information about their product, plans, and demos all the while melding that user experience with the cat-SAR system to create one cohesive and stylized set of services. Algorithms. Analyses. Custom data model generation. These are just a few of the “tools of the trade” that, hand-in-hand, Mission Data’s developers, designers, and Gnarus worked tirelessly to forge into the ultimate tool which could easily, and efficiently, exist as a web-based solution. Given the very technical and scientific nature of the subject, it has been an absolutely engaging, and complex, learning experience for us to ensure that we understood Gnarus’ product and needs. But, it’s one that we have loved every step of the way (we are glad there have been no formal chemistry tests imposed on us, though…yet).

Suffice to say, this final product is something we’re all very proud of, and yet we have only scratched the surface here. We highly encourage you to­ check it out, and see for yourself! For more information, visit http://www.gnarus-systems.com/ and/or contact Albert R. Cunningham (al.cunningham@gnarus-systems.com, 1.502.852.3346) or Andrew Steen (andrew.steen@gnarus-systems.com, 1.502.569.1020 extension 304).

Because, honestly? The fewer Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde mice and birds in the world? The better.

WordPress TinyMCE editor Visual editor not showing

Released June 15th, 2012

We have encountered a few instances recently where the default wysiwyg editor for WordPress (TinyMCE) does not render in the admin.

We tracked down the problem to a combination of the .gz file extension and git. Usually in your global .gitignore file certain folders and file extensions are set to be ignored and .gz just happens to be one of them. TinyMCE uses a gzipped file to render the editor found at “wp-includes/js/tinymce/wp-tinymce.js.gz”. Check to make sure that this file is being included in your git repository using the following command:

git ls-files  wp-includes/js/tinymce/wp-tinymce.js.gz --error-unmatch
error: pathspec 'wp-includes/js/tinymce/wp-tinymce.js.gz'
did not match any file(s) known to git.
Did you forget to 'git add'?

If not, add the file using:

git add wp-includes/js/tinymce/wp-tinymce.js.gz -f

That should override the global .gitignore and add the file.

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